Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Luwellyn Landers, will this week lead the South African delegation to attend the 18th mid-term ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
The meeting will be held in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan, from 5 - 6 April, under the theme ‘Promoting International Peace and Security for Sustainable Development’.
South Africa will take advantage of the meeting to engage NAM Member States on issues that include the reform of the UN Security Council, self-determination and nuclear disarmament.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation said South Africa is a member of the NAM Special committee on Palestine, which has the mandate to coordinate NAM's activities in support of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination.
“The NAM Committee on Palestine will meet on the margins of the NAM ministerial meeting to review the situation and developments in the occupied Palestinian Territories. The Committee will make a proposal to the NAM ministerial meeting on a program to be adopted, aimed at advancing the cause of the Palestinian people,” the department said.
South Africa will use the meeting to engage NAM Member States on the initiative to mark the centenary of the birth and life of Nelson Mandela, which will be celebrated during the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2018 at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
The meeting is expected to adopt the final outcome document for the NAM mid-term ministerial meeting and the political declaration. – SAnews.gov.za
